Friday, January 20, 2017

Bottom Planking and Bending

After getting the two halves of the bottom glued up I laid them down flat on wide horses and first planed them clean both sides (I could just lift and flip a half at a time) and then finally glued and nailed them together. Next was setting up a high horse in the center and bending the two ends up to match the designed rocker of the bottom.

Here is the second half set up vertically, glued and nailed together.

To plane them I bent them slightly to give the plane a better bite on the material.

Naturally I chose to photograph a section of seam that came out really well but I choose the photos, so... The method of using the circular saw is not without challenges but the results are quite good. Its fast too.

I set up a chain fall and one end at a time pulled up the ends of the bottom while the center remain firmly fixed with a post braced to a wooden beam I installed in the ceiling.

My ink line string passes from the two raised ends and is two sun off the bottom in the center, the designed rocker for this boat.

You can see the curve of the sides (yes, the boat doesn't have much shape) and the plugs installed in the mortises. A Canadian woman living locally stopped by and called it a Japanese punt, which is a good way to describe it.

I've asked if anyone can borrow an adze to speed up trimming these off. Otherwise I do it with a handsaw then plane things smooth.

Wonder if my boatbuilder friends in Maine use LOBSTER brand clamps? These are very nice quality and I am grateful the company has lots of them. The founder fifty years ago built wooden boats up to 10 meters long, then switched to steel boats, then the company morphed into one building ship interiors in wood. Now they are a state-of-the-art cabinet shop. These clamps are largely useless in their shop now but I am certainly glad to have them.